Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Just What IS Good Copy Writing? Savvy Clients Want To Know

TREAT READERS RIGHT

Writing good site text is
a complex mixture of defining benefits and keeping visitors interested, i.e.
enhancing the on-site experience with good information that’s short on sales
hype, long on useful tips and suggestions.

Here are some tactics that
have worked for my clients:

1. There are three topics about which most readers
are interested: health (nutrition,
fitness, diseases, etc.), family (how-to’s, relations, child-rearing) and
finances (aka money. How to make, save, spend or stretch it.) Choose a topic in
one of these areas. Combine two interests, as in “10 Ways to Improve Family
Nutrition.”

2. Engage the reader. Befriend the reader. Encourage the reader with
good, useful information. Don’t make the reader angry.

3. Write like you talk. Don’t write words to be read, write words that are
heard in the reader’s brain. You don’t say, “I am going to the kitchen.” You
say, “I’m going to the kitchen.” Pretend there’s someone sitting next to you.
Talk to that figment and type what you say. Then, clean it up for grammar,
spelling and punctuation.

5. Use short blocks of text, like this post. Layout is important to eye scan and web readers
rarely read, they scan and small blocks of text are more easily scanned. That’s
why it’s a good idea to use titles, headers and sub-heads to raise the
curiosity of the reader. To intrigue. It’s a pleasant discovery. (See point 4.)

6. Practice writing in a number of voices so you can take on any writing job. A corporate
white paper uses different wording than a quick how-to written for parents. A
business plan has a different tone than a piece on oddities
in Nebraska.
The more voices you develop, the more readable and engaging your writing.

7. Respect the reader. S/he takes the time to read what you write so keep
it interesting, on point and short. No extra words.

8. Eliminate qualifiers. Not: We strive to achieve client satisfaction.
Strive and you might fail. Eliminate the qualifier: We achieve client
satisfaction. Not “Our widget CAN increase production by 300%.” Eliminate all
qualifiers: “Our widget increases production by 300%” This gives writing
authority and confidence.

There’s more, but that’s a start. The one thing
you don’t want to do is anger readers. Or annoy them. Or push their buttons. Be
straight with them and they’ll read what you write. Paul Lalleyeditor.webwordslinger.com